The IT infrastructure is quite strong at United Spirits. The company has IBM
I-Series box that can work on multiple operating systems. The hardware is
replaced once in three years. The company believes that right technology at the
right time is key to business growth. Desktops have been installed across the
cloud and is centrally consolidated. It has also consolidated its servers
centrally. The company has a certified CCM from Microsoft. Unlike before, the
company resolves issues much faster through incorporation of newer software
technologies. In older days the prevailing technology, (which are now legacy
technologies) was sufficient to meet the demands. But in modern business
environment, demands are high. To meet these demands, it is important to
constantly upgrade to newer versions of both hardware and software.
|
G Devanathan, senior general manager, information systems, United Spirits |
At USL, the fundamental philosophy is to stay ahead in the competition. And
adoption of new technologies helps the company achieve its goals. Also new
technology helps in achieving significant cost reductions that was not possible
by continuing on the legacy system.
Different companies have different opinions on legacy systems. With the
continuous development of new computing technologies, legacy systems face a
tough challenge to keep up with the growing user expectations.
|
AK Patel, senior manager, IT, NTPC |
The demand of resources for the legacy systems in their present form and
usage levels are far less than the new technology systems. The additional
resources required to address present day user expectations through legacy
systems become very highsometimes higher than the complete new solution itself.
The skill-set requirement of legacy systems is far more specific and is in
perennial short supply, unlike the new computing environment which are more
accommodating and easily available. Also, the new technologies are far more
effective and compatible with underlying hardware and software.
This necessitates migration from legacy software to new technologies, such as
migrating standard client or connection based system towards web computing (ie,
web service, XML, etc); legacy procedural systems towards OO technologies to
meet the new environment. However, it makes sense to move toward new
technologies in a phased manner as per the availability of resources.
The Union Bank of India has one of the best IT infrastructure based on new
technologies. Whereas, in most of the banks point-to-point connectivity is being
used, in Union Bank MPLS network has been deployed across all branches. The
Union Bank of India was one of the first banks to deploy MPLS technology on a
large scale.
|
Anil Kuril, assistant general manager (IT), department of IT, Union Bank of India |
The bank works on Finacle core banking solution across its branches,
replacing the legacy architecture, mainly based on the Nelito system. The
Finacle core banking solution is one of the most developed systems, which can be
controlled in a centralized way. However, it is now planning to move to the
Oracle 10G solution. Facilities such as Internet banking, mobile banking (UMobile),
and SMS banking are key solutions offered by the Union Bank of India to their
customers on 24/7 basis. UMobile was a new concept that was launched for the
first time by the bank.
As modern day banking demands services that are fully automated, faster and
efficient, it a necessity for the public sector banks in India to upgrade their
IT infrastructure as per the latest available technology. Legacy architecture is
insufficient to provide a smooth and fully-automated service to the customers.
PC Suraj & Shrikanth G
surajp@cybermedia.co.in